Storm Coast
by C.B. Magique
Summary: Sonic and Tails crash-land on a mysterious island while trying to escape Dr Eggman's badnik battalion. Turns out, he followed them. Stranded, surrounded by miles of ocean, and with two civilians in the crossfire, how will Sonic and Tails get out of this one? Just another adventure.
1. Act I

A/N: So, I haven't written any fanfiction for a very long time. Then I suddenly got bitten by The Bug and managed to finish something off that I had started. I initially conceived this as part of something longer, taking place in a Sonic World AU that mashed together elements of every piece of Sonic media - games, comics, cartoons... Sonic Boom - with aesthetic inspiration from Sonic Mania. Then it paused halfway through chapter two. I finally managed to finish that off and then I thought to myself that I probably won't get around to writing everything in my head for this AU. So I'm uploading what I managed to complete. Although I _might_ be peer-pressured into filling the series out a bit more.

* * *

**Act I**

* * *

Clear skies all around; the perfect day as viewed from below. Suddenly a red blur cut across the endless blue, followed by a swarm of metallic minions in V-formation behind it. They were catching up rapidly, even with the little biplane going as fast as its propellers could take it.

"Sonic!" the two-tailed pilot called up to the blue hedgehog riding on the wing. "We'll never lose them like this!"

"Then we'll have to take 'em out," Sonic replied cockily, looking back at the pursuers with a raised eyebrow. A small fleet of Balkiries advanced like missiles homing on a target, ten in regular red while a golden model led the fleet. Eleven was a doable number. "Tails, bank left!"

"You got it!"

Tails gave him a thumbs-up quickly before setting both hands on the controls and making a hard left. Sonic started running on the spot, feet turning into a red blur but he was still sliding down the left side of the wing. Unworried, he kept pumping his legs until he started to smell burning rubber from the soles of his shoes. The speed of his feet became gravity-defying as the biplane made a half circle and the Balkiries were almost upon them. That's when Sonic fired.

He shot up the makeshift ramp like a cannonball and curled into a spiked ball. The Balkiries weren't built to change direction quickly so they could only swivel their eyeballs at him in dread as he came down upon them. He hit one with such force that tore in half and exploded. Sonic used the shockwave and what was left of the solid matter to leap back into the air and land on another in a crushing spin-dash. With each defeated badnik and small bird flew out in a panic to escape the flames. Sonic uncurled himself briefly to watch them go – it was the best part when defeating badniks – before diving on another. He counted them down in his head—seven, eight, nine, he was almost done. However, the final red Balkiry braked and pulled up as he bounced towards it. He came mere centimetres shy of hitting it and then he was falling.

Sonic uncurled from his spin-dash. The ground looked so far away it was hard to fathom that he was approaching it at terminal velocity. He flipped around to keep his eye on the Balkiry. It zoomed towards him, weaponised beak ready to attack. Then a rally of bullets shot the Balkiry from the side. It blew apart, releasing the little bird inside. Sonic grinned and turned to see the Tornado spinning towards him, gaining momentum to get under him so he could grab the wing. Tails pulled up and set the plane back on a cruising course.

"Nice work, Tails!"

"No problem! And don't even worry about the gold one," Tails replied. "I took it out in a gunfight."

"Sweet!" Sonic laughed. He reclined on the wing with one foot on the other knee. "That'll show Dr Eggman that it'll take more than a few lame bots to chase us down."

"Uh, Sonic..."

The apprehension in the little fox's voice made Sonic look down in concern. Tails had his hands steady on the controls but was looking behind the plane. Sonic followed his gaze and his eyes widened.

The airship must have caught up while they were fighting. The egg-shaped hulk of metal didn't look like it should be able to fly but an impressive (and somewhat ridiculous) array consisting of two blimp balloons on the flank, several jet engines and some whirling propellers kept it afloat. And of course, no Eggman creation would be complete without a decal of his ugly face emblazoned across the front with that mocking grin. The gargantuan mass couldn't even keep up with a biplane on a good day but that wasn't what had Tails and Sonic anxious. Hangar doors were opening around the decal. It was a badnik carrier.

"The Egg Zeppelin must have a full army of flying badniks," Tails said. "We have to get away before they launch."

"Chill Tails," Sonic muttered, trying to keep his little brother in good spirits but his low tone and the way he stared pensively at the airship wasn't very inspiring. "We've been in tight spots before, we'll get through."

Before the hangar doors were even fully opened, the Egg Zeppelin fired on them. Huge anti-aircraft bullets suitable for taking down an airship of like size whizzed past them. Sonic ducked low to avoid one and was then nearly bumped off by the force of another hitting the right side of the top wing. Fire and smoke streamed out of the hole like a black jet stream. The Tornado dipped. Tails screamed for him to hold on while he tried to manoeuvre the plane to stability, but even after a roll he was still tilting the plane back and forth to stay straight.

"This is bad news," he told Sonic. "It'll be even harder to fight and fly at the same time with the wing this damaged."

Sonic almost had an optimistic response ready when suddenly the Tornado lurched from a hard impact behind them. They both turned around. More smoke billowed out of the tail end. Going from bad to worse, there was no winning this round. Sonic glanced down at Tails near panicking in the cockpit. He needed to find a way to get them out alive.

He looked out over the front of the Tornado, scanning the landscape ahead for any hope. Just their luck, they'd flown blindly into a mountainous area but between valleys and slopes he could see a flat expanse of aquamarine and sometimes even a slice of sandy beach. And there was something terrible blowing in.

"Tails, head to our ten o'clock!"

The fox looked in the specified direction and his stomach dropped. Rolling in over the coast were massive storm clouds so dark and thick that the sea underneath them was turned several shades darker. Flashes and forks of lightning lit the darkness occasionally.

"Y-you wanna g-go in there?" Tails asked, going pale in the face. "We can't!"

"It's the best way to lose the Egg Zeppelin."

"But it's too dangerous for the Tornado and..." Tails excused, glancing at the storm cell again just as a long fork of lightning dropped from the clouds to the sea. "And... the lightning..."

Sonic dropped down from the wing into the passenger seat behind Tails. He put a comforting hand on his adoptive little brother's shoulder and squeezed reassuringly. "You got this, little buddy. You're the best flier I know and if there's anything you can't handle, I'm in your corner the whole time."

Tails gulped but nodded. He didn't want to let his big brother down when Sonic had so much faith in him. He steered the Tornado towards it, heart thumping as a bulbous cumulus cloud fizzing with lightning came into his forward vision. With their biplane so unstable the Egg Zeppelin couldn't aim for them as easily. They didn't sustain another hit while they flew towards the storm and disappeared into the black clouds like a portal.

Inside the storm the clouds smothered their little plane in a thick fog. The electricity in the air made their fur stand on end and their skin prickled because of it. The Tornado lurched and rocked in the criss-crossing wind currents whirling about like atmospheric rapids and the raindrops made it just as wet. Every streak of lightning that flashed over and around them made Tails squeak and jump and every other time he shook like a leaf in the wind. Sonic put both hands on his shoulders but even warm hands only caused the trembling to subside marginally. Sonic kept an eye out in front and to the side but there was nothing to see but dark grey in every direction. They had no idea how far they'd flown or if there was even anything in the direction they were taking.

"Sonic," Tails whimpered. Sonic's attention swivelled straight back to him. "Th-the fuel tank's r-running low. W-we n-n-need to land." A flash of lightning with a crack of thunder made him scream.

Sonic looked behind the plane. Nothing but clouds and black smoke. "Now is probably as good a time as any. Let's get out of this storm."

Tails was so relieved. His muscles tensed with adrenaline and he pushed the controls so sharply that he descended at first a lot steeper than he should have. When they broke the lower boundary of the clouds the weather didn't get any better. Rain poured by the proverbial bucket load and the lightning situation didn't improve. The headlights didn't do much good in these conditions. Gales continued to buffet the struggling Tornado, forcing Tails to make a few risky manoeuvres to maintain stability.

"Tails, check your right!"

Tails took his focus off the controls for a second. His heart skipped a beat thinking that the Egg Zeppelin had followed them after all but Sonic's white glove was highly visible even in the dark, pointing down towards the ocean and a small cluster of yellow dots.

"Is that a town?" he wondered hopefully.

"It's some kind of civilisation, for sure," Sonic answered, "which means there must be land."

"Not necessarily. There are some settlements that float their buildings out on the water—"

"Tails, what we need right now isn't technicalities, it's positivity! We won't know unless we get closer anyway."

Tails gulped. "Okay. Strap in, then. We're making our descent into... wherever this is."

He tipped the nose downward gently. The broken tail didn't take well to being handled in any direction and the plane ended up careening into a nosedive. They both screamed at the sudden decline. Tails felt sick knowing that Sonic was just as scared as he was. How would he get through this without Sonic being there as a confident rock to anchor him? But then it occurred to him that they were diving towards the sea and he wanted to throw up. If they landed over the water Sonic wouldn't be able to save him. Both of their lives were counting on him to make a safe landing somewhere solid. His knuckles were already aching from gripping the controls so hard but he didn't let go. He couldn't. He pulled the Tornado up. It climbed a bit too high, tilted towards its damaged wing. Tails had to push it in the opposite direction. That's how it went with the plane going up and down in waves as Tails coaxed it towards the light.

It occurred to Tails that they had another huge problem: the light. Or more accurately, the lack of it. Even as the yellow lights got close enough that they were able to recognise them as a town, they couldn't safely land down there. Then there was a huge flash of lightning. It frazzled Tails but in the instant of total illumination he managed to spot a possibility. Around the coastal bend of the island, south of the village, jutted a narrow headland with a bare, flat top. The view was gone in an instant but Tails steered towards it. Such a flat, clear area would be their best hope for a landing that didn't kill them (or anyone else). The headlights could barely light the way through the pouring rain. They could be flying into the cliff for all Tails knew. He couldn't believe he was doing this, but he prayed for another flash of lightning. It came and Tails' heart jumped into his throat when he saw that they were nearly upon the headland. He slammed the brakes on.

"Sonic, brace!"

Sonic's tight grip on his shoulders disappeared, leaving him alone. He braced himself, closing his eyes tightly and hoping that he'd get another chance to open them. The landing gear clipped the edge of the cliff, pushing the nose down. The propeller flew off with a loud clank but the Tornado's momentum kept it sliding forward. Dirt, sand, and rock sprayed over the small plane skidding to the end of its makeshift runway, turning and titling until it came to a grinding halt.

The sound of the rain dominated the quiet after the crash. Raindrops pattered onto them steadily now that they weren't speeding through the air. Sonic broke his brace position to look up and get a handle on what had happened and where they were. Between the rain and the fact that it was night time it was too dark to see but he could feel that the Tornado was tilted dramatically. He unbuckled himself, then reached for the kit in the seat in front of him. He had to lean far forward before his hand touched the shivering back of a fox curled up tightly and unable to control his whimpers.

"Tails! It's okay," Sonic told him over the sound of the rain. "You did it! We made it to land safe and sound."

Tails sniffled. He uncurled a bit and then there was the click of a belt buckle being unsuccessfully jiggled. Sonic leaped out of his seat. The ground was a lot closer than he expected—Tornado had dug a bigger trench than he'd imagined it would during the crash landing. He reached into Tails' side of the cockpit to undo the seatbelt for him and pulled him out of his seat. Tails latched onto him tightly with all of his limbs.

"Whoa, easy, little buddy," Sonic said gently, hugging him back. "It's all good. You did great."

Tails didn't reply. Sonic sighed and looked around. Their plane was a bust and they needed shelter for the rest of the night; they couldn't just sleep in the rain. Another huge lightning flash illuminated the world despite the heavy rain. Tails squeaked and held tighter. It hurt a little but Sonic let him be. Not too far away, he spotted their ticket to shelter: a towering pile of junk. The flash didn't last long enough to get a clear picture of all of it but it was long enough that Sonic was able to plot a course towards an open gap in one of the steel shapes. Mindfully, he went to the Tornado's storage compartment first and searched through their things for their camp stove. Once found, he dashed out of the rain towards the bunker he'd seen. He nearly ran into its wall and had to feel his way around until he found the doorway. It would be a good shelter; the air and even the floor inside felt dry. Sonic peeled Tails off him and set him on the floor so that he could light the stove. It illuminated the bunker enough that he could see Tails clearly again, fur drenched and his arms and legs held tightly against his body as he shivered and stared into space.

"Don't worry, pal," Sonic assured him with a pat on the head, "I'll be back with all our stuff in a sonic second."

He looked outside. More lightning showed the Tornado up the slope of the headland half a kilometre away. He grimaced at the pouring rain that showed no sign of letting up soon but Tails needed him and they both needed their stuff under proper shelter otherwise it could all be completely ruined. Sonic sped back to the plane and the half open hatch on the storage compartment. The less trips he made the better so he started with a waterproof canvas they had and laid it out under the body where it wouldn't get as wet. He filled it with every item they'd kept in the plane as quickly as possible. When he thought he had everything, he stuck his upper body into the compartment and felt around just to be sure. A packet crinkled under his fingers deep in the narrow end. He grinned, hoping it was what he thought it was by the feel of the shape and contents. He grabbed it and got out of the plane, now ready to abandon it. He rolled up the canvas, packet in hand and sped back to the bunker, this time with a candle-like light in the dark to guide him.

Back in their shelter, he put the canvas ball down and shook his fur out. Finally, they were both safe, out of the rain, and had nothing to go back for. Sonic took a moment to let his body realise it could relax as he examined the man-made cave they had stumbled across. It was an old freight crate. The back end was terribly bent out of shape and there was a huge dent that went all the way through the ceiling. Whatever had caused the ceiling to fall in had made the walls and edges buckle but they were holding their current position well, no creaking or groaning indicating an imminent collapse. The doors weren't too badly out of shape but they wouldn't close properly anymore. Even so, Sonic closed them and jammed the deadbolts into place as best he could. Despite the gaps in the entrance the make-shift cave felt warmer, the air stiller albeit smelling dusty, and the rain sounded far away beating on the metal surrounding them like hundreds of drums at once.

Sonic sat down beside Tails. The kit was still shaking, from the wet, the cold, and everything else. Sonic hoped he had just the thing to cheer him up. He waved the food packet he'd found in Tornado's storage compartment.

"Hey, buddy, look what I found. Instant noodles! We still had some after all and they're chicken flavour—that's your favourite."

Tails looked up, sniffled and managed a tiny smile. It was good enough for Sonic. He passed the noodle packet to Tails so he had something to hold onto and distract his mind while Sonic went back to the canvas and unrolled it. All of their meagre possessions were laid out before him. He picked up their only towel for Tails and grabbed a kettle. He opened a door briefly to collect some rainwater to boil. While it boiled in the kettle, Sonic set out two enamel bowls with a fork each. He coaxed the packet out of Tails' tight fingers and split the noodles and flavour sachet between the two bowls. It would be a very, very small meal with very broken noodles but it would do for now; all they needed was something warm and settling.

Sonic glanced at Tails. The red and white striped towel draped over his ears but he hadn't done anything to dry himself with it since it had been tossed over him. With the crate surrounding them completely and the light in front of them the lightning wasn't so frightening but the thunder cracks and booms had him jumping and whimpering. Sonic scooted over to towel dry him.

"Tails, you got something you wanna talk about?" Sonic asked. Tails' ears folded back and he stared into his instant noodles. "You know we're safe now, right? And it's all thanks to you and your awesome piloting skills. Everything is going to be alright, I promise, but I'm still here to listen if you have anything to get off your chest."

Tails looked at him. "The Tornado... it's completely totalled, isn't it?"

"It's just a plane," Sonic shrugged. "We can build a new one."

"Does it really not bother you that I destroyed your plane?"

"Hey, it wouldn't have been destroyed if _I_ hadn't suggested coming to land here," Sonic reminded him, "and if _you_ hadn't handled the crash so well, we might not be so alive and kicking right now."

Tails didn't reply. He switched his gaze to the kettle, hearing the bubbling inside.

"You miss it already, don't you?"

Tails hung his head, knowing he'd been caught out. "I loved flying it and now it's gone. The trusty old Tornado got us so far and went on so many adventures with us."

A moment of reverent silence passed. Then Sonic resumed towelling one of the twin tails.

"Its final voyage was an epic one," he murmured. "Once this storm's over, we'll give it a hero's send off. Whaddya say?"

Tails smiled. "Yeah."

The kettle whistled. Sonic left Tails to finish drying himself so he could return to the food-related duties, portioning enough water into each bowl. Then more waiting, so Sonic returned to the canvas to pull out their sleeping bags and roll them out. It was quiet between them while they ate, neither of them able to bring themselves to talk while they digested impact of the crash and how lucky they were to survive it.

The storm raged on and they had no choice but to sleep it off. With nothing more they wanted to say, they switched off the gas and crawled into their bags. Lightning flashed through the gaps in the doors to light the dark. Tails squealed and jumped out of his sleeping bag, scurrying over to Sonic and shaking him even though he wasn't asleep yet.

Sonic chuckled. "Okay, little buddy, just for tonight."

He lifted the opening and Tails crawled in to curl up at his side. He patted the kit on the head before settling down, front to Tails' back so that the little fox wouldn't get accidentally spiked during the night. The comfort calmed Tails down and he stopped shuddering with Sonic's brotherly protection right behind him. They both slept easily that night.


	2. Act II

**Act II**

* * *

Sonic awoke to the smell of damp soil and humidity and the sound of waves. The storm had passed. He yawned and then opened his eyes, seeing first that it was light already but with a shadow looming over him and Tails. He rubbed his eyes and looked up. The identical faces of two lavender bandicoots looked down at them.

Startled (although he only let it show for a second), Sonic jumped out of his sleeping bag. He tried to play it cool with a casual lean and a cocky grin. "Hey, ladies. Nice morning out, huh? To what do I owe the pleasure of your beautiful company?"

He winked. The twins exchanged glances and turned back to Sonic.

"Hi," ventured the one wearing a red scarf around her head and bangs.

"We're guessing that red wreck out there belongs to you?" the one with the green scarf questioned, pointing over her shoulder with her thumb. The girls had pried the doors wide open and Sonic could see between them the crumpled pile the Tornado had laid in since coming the crash landing.

"Yeah, pretty rough storm last night," Sonic said nonchalantly, stretching his back and arms. "Made for a pretty rough landing."

"Are you okay?" asked Red Scarf. "That plane is in really bad shape. It's pretty much unsalvageable."

"No need to worry about me, ladies. My friend Tails is the best pilot around."

As though summoned by the mention, Tails mumbled in his sleep and yawned. He sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He could already feel that Sonic wasn't by his side anymore but now that the storm was over waking up alone didn't perturb him. What did startle him was looking up and finding two female strangers wearing purple sleeveless vests and jeans standing right beside their sleeping gear.

"This kid flew that plane?" Green Scarf said, eyebrows risen in amazement. "In last night's weather?"

Tails gulped and looked down abashedly, prepared for the blame to be laid upon him over Tornado's condition.

"That's impressive! Especially since you're both here in one piece without a scratch on you."

"You mean that?" Tails asked happily, able to face them after such a positive reception.

"Definitely," Red Scarf nodded. She offered her right hand to shake. "Let me introduce myself: I'm Perci."

"And I'm Staci," Green Scarf added, offering her hand the same.

Sonic shook hands with them and gave them his name. Tails stood up to follow suit. "Nice meeting ya," the blue hedgehog said.

Before any of them could say any more, a pair of stomachs gurgled hungrily at the same time. The boys blushed. It reminded Sonic that they'd only had half a packet of instant noodles to sustain them.

"Say, you wouldn't happen to know where we could get a decent meal around here?" he asked, rubbing his spines sheepishly.

"Of course," Perci giggled. "Our village isn't far from here. We'll show you the way."

The twins stepped out of the crate with Sonic and Tails following. Outside in the early morning sun of a perfectly clear day, the boys looked back on the structure that they had camped in the previous night. The crate they'd slept in was partially crushed under a crashed telecommunications satellite, though Tails would say that the satellite had probably never been active or had failed its launch, otherwise it would have been burnt to nothing. Both pieces of junk had been shoved aside by the nose of an airline jet. Behind the plane there was all manner of industrial and electronic junk including a spacecraft, a train and several of its carriages, a warship, and even another biplane. The garbage formed a veritable mountain of discarded machines, so old that the machines at the bottom were beginning to sink into the beach – the airline jet's door was nearly at ground level – and earth had accumulated in the gaps, allowing the growth of jungle plants.

"That's such an incredible pile of junk," Tails said in awe. He turned to the girls. "How did it all get here?"

"We're not sure how _all_ of it got here," Staci admitted.

"But this island has a specific magnetic anomaly associated with it," Perci continued for her, "that caused a lot of machines to get lost or crash around here in the past."

"Until someone figured out how to compensate for it," Staci finished. "Though that train really had no excuse."

"Wow," Sonic muttered, impressed by the towering pile. His gaze panned across it and fell upon an older structure standing like a sentinel at the foot of the headland. It towered like a lighthouse but instead of smooth concrete its outer walls appeared to be built out of weathered stone with relief carvings and moss lush from the recent rain giving it extra texture. At the top it had no light, rather there was an ellipsoid balloon tethered flush against the top, swaying in the ocean breeze. "And what's that?" he asked, pointing to it.

"Oh, that's one of the relics left by the Ancients," Staci answered casually.

"Maintaining them is a duty passed down in our family," Perci added. "We were originally out here to check on it..."

"Until we saw your wrecked plane and started looking around for you guys," Staci completed her sister's thought.

"What does it do?" Tails asked.

"It's an outpost," Perci answered. "It's able to detect threats coming in off the coast. When activated it launches that balloon you see up there, which has a farther range of vision and has long-range weapons."

"They had that kind of technology in ancient times?" Tails wondered sceptically. "But wait, we didn't get shot down last night."

"Duh," Staci said, waving her hand dismissively. "It's not a good idea to have active war machines during peacetime so Perci and I disabled its functions. Now we just gotta make sure it stays that way."

"How fast can you un-disable them?" Sonic asked.

"What for?" Perci queried. Tails and the twins turned to him. He had his back to them, looking out to sea and pointing to a black splotch in sky. "Is that something to worry about?"

"Sonic, do you think...?" Tails muttered, trailing off. He ran back into the crate and returned with a foldable telescope, stretching it out and peering into the lens. "It's the Egg Zeppelin!"

"The what zeppelin?" Staci said, thinking she'd misheard the ridiculous name.

"Dr Eggman's badnik carrier," Sonic replied, glaring at the blight on the otherwise lovely day. "How was he able to track us here?"

"He might just be guessing," Tails hoped. Lowering the telescope, he turned to the twins, "How many islands are around here?"

"Just this one, currently," Staci replied.

"What do you mean 'currently'?" Tails asked.

"This island isn't connected to the seafloor," Perci clarified.

"So, it floats around the world on ocean currents," Staci added.

"But it often goes off on a different course due to storms, magnetic activity, or other energy sources."

"That's why it's so impossible to track and isn't on any maps."

Sonic crossed his arms. "Eggman must have predicted our flight path somehow and figured that if we were alive after last night this is where we'd be."

"This is bad!" Tails cried. "If the Egg Zeppelin lands here and releases its badniks on the island, every living creature will be in danger!"

"Is he really that bad?" Staci asked fearfully.

"Definitely," Sonic nodded. "Now, how are we gonna get up there before he lands and unleashes his badnik army?"

Tails chewed the inside of his cheek as he fiddled with the telescope nervously. Sonic hadn't addressed the question to anyone in particular but he felt like it was directed at him. He glanced at the twins. Staci looked about nervously but confused as to how Sonic expected a request like that to be met. Perci had one hand on her chin in thought and looked over to the sentry tower. Tails looked that way too. Having it as support would certainly help but if it truly was ancient then there was no way it would be powerful enough to shoot down the Egg Zeppelin. Sonic was right—the two of them needed to get on board and take it down from the inside.

The runway of the warship protruded into the periphery of Tails' view of the tower. He turned to it, taking in its impressive length for aircraft takeoffs and then looking at the junk pile in general. The biplane with its nose crumpled had been wrenched out of place by a tree trunk growing out from under it. It was an older model than the Tornado, probably restored to be as close to original as possible with its light wooden frame covered in fabric. He gazed at Sonic again, glaring determinedly at the approaching Zeppelin with his arms folded and his back straight like a heroic leader.

"I've got an idea!" Tails declared, causing the other three to turn to him. He pointed to the biplane. "We can use that old plane up there but I need some tools to modify it."

"We've got your tools," Perci said, pointing to a tool belt on her hips identical to the one Staci wore.

"And there's more in our buggy if you need them," Staci added.

"I'm guessing you need me to speed you up there," Sonic said with a proud grin.

"Of course, but I'll need a bit more than that afterwards, if you don't mind," Tails told him.

"When have I ever?"

Tails grinned. Their counterattack was in motion.

* * *

Aboard the Egg Zeppelin, a fat bald man in a red coat with outlandish yellow lapels grinned at the screen in front of the carrier's control room. Even with the long-range cameras the image had to be zoomed in so much it became pixelated but he could discern the silhouette of the blue hedgehog and orange fox beside a pair of purple things that didn't interest him. He leaned back in his high-backed leather chair, still sporting his Cheshire grin as he put one foot up on his knee and clapped his thumbs together in anticipation. In front of him on either side of his main control desk, two robots worked diligently at smaller control desks. Well, one was working, the other was playing Galaga.

"Thirty-three minutes and twenty-seven seconds until targets are in range of the cannons," reported the red and black robot with a spherical head and a hemispherical bottom panel – an Orbot.

"Ohohoho! Stuck on an island in the middle of nowhere," the Dr Eggman chuckled. "I knew a mere storm wouldn't destroy that blue menace. Now he and his fox friend are nothing but cannon fodder."

"We could have simply left him here," Orbot pointed out. "This location is so remote it would be practically impossible for him to leave and interfere with your world domination delusions—I mean, visionary ambitions."

"That rodent always finds a way, even when it seems impossible," Dr Eggman growled. "The only way to secure my future glory is to destroy him unambiguously! And right here is perfect. He's trapped, surrounded by miles of open ocean. Even if he ran as fast as he could there will be no escaping the might of my badnik battalion! Ohohoho!"

As the mad doctor laughed, Orbot exchanged looks with his partner robot, similarly designed but as a yellow and black cube – a Cubot.

"Sonic's gonna destroy us again, isn't he?" Cubot asked.

"Most likely," Orbot replied.

* * *

They were ready. Tails rubbed his sweaty fur away from his eyes while he looked up at his completed makeshift construction on the deck of the warship at the aft end, put undercover by a myriad of machines hanging over it. Perci and Staci had offered their assistance to get it done as quickly as possible and all four of them together had depleted the biplane to a selection of basic parts such that it was no longer a plane. Now it was nothing more than a basic glider with wings and a frame.

"What did you say you were going to do with this again?" Staci asked, disbelieving that she was a part of something truly insane.

"Me and Sonic are going to use it to glide onto the Egg Zeppelin so that we can destroy it," Tails answered.

"This is so unwise," Perci muttered, feeling the same way as her sister.

A barrage of cannon shells bombarded the beach, rocking the it like it had been hit by an earthquake. Sonic, Tails and the twins almost lost their balance from that first volley alone.

"Sonic! We've gotta go!" Tails exclaimed.

"Step ahead of ya, little buddy," Sonic said, getting into place and hoisting the wings up by the handlebar. "All two-tailed foxes are invited to board flight Sonic Hedgehog."

"Will you two be okay?" Tails asked as he spun his tails to get airborne.

"Don't worry about us," Perci replied. Another volley of shells rocked the junk pile.

"Just stop that madman from destroying the island!" Staci pleaded.

Tails flew over to take his place on a bar behind Sonic with his tails hanging out the back. Sonic glanced at him and he returned the look with a thumbs up. The blue hedgehog smirked and looked forwards again.

"Hold tight, little buddy."

Sonic revved his feet, just like he'd done on the Tornado the day before. The sharp tang of burning rubber filled the air for a moment and smoke billowed from his soles. Then they were peeling off, running down the length of the warship and out into the open. At the speed they were going Sonic could already start to feel his feet pulling away from the tarmac but he was determined to make it to the end. Faster, faster, staying on the track until it ended abruptly. Sonic leaped off the end of the runway and the glider took all of his speed and momentum with it into the sky.

They were flying, wind whipping around them on all sides. Even on the Tornado they'd never been this exposed. Cannon shells shot right past them, focussed on bombarding the beach. The Egg Zeppelin had gotten so close that they could see the decal on the front of it grinning at them. The glider began to level off. Tails curled his tails together and spun them to make a rear propeller pushing them further along.

Up on the Egg Zeppelin, Eggman laughed maniacally.

"That's it! Annihilate those feral furballs!" he cheered, dancing excitedly as the cannons aimlessly bombarded the beach. "Burn their little island to the ground and them along with it! AHAHAHAHA!"

"Uh oh," Cubot interrupted. "We've got incoming."

"WHAT?!" Eggman spluttered.

"Scanning surroundings," Orbot reported. The computer beeped. "Cameras can confirm visual."

A hologram window popped up in front of their screens showing Sonic and Tails riding towards them on a makeshift glider.

"That's impossible!" Dr Eggman exclaimed. "ALL WEAPONS FIRE ON THAT HEDGEHOG!"

"The target is too small and fast for the cannons," said Orbot. "Engaging turrets."

The smoking cannons suddenly ceased firing. Sonic and Tails watched the airship, wondering what that could mean. Suddenly a pair of bullets whizzed by, nearly grazing the wing.

"They must have found us on their radar," Tails supposed, in awe of Eggman's technological prowess as he often was even when the fat man was trying to destroy them.

Sonic just smirked. "Bring it on."

He shifted his weight to tilt the wings and veer off their straight course as more anti-aircraft fire rained on them. Tails adjusted his tails too, allowing them to dip, lift, and roll to avoid the bullets. Dr Eggman slammed his fist on his console.

"DEPLOY THE BADNIKS!"

The doors at the front of the airship began to open. Looking into the hangars with rows and rows of flying badniks waiting for launch orders imparted the same sense as looking down the throat of beast.

"How nice of the ol' Eggman to open the front door for us," Sonic joked lightly.

The badniks launched.

"This is bad!" Tails said. "The turrets are one thing, but we can't just dodge badniks."

"Don't sweat it," Sonic grinned. He pulled his feet up to the handlebar like he was about to jump. "I'm leaving the glider to you, buddy. You got this."

He flashed Tails a thumbs up and then he shot off like a rocket. The glider unbalanced but Tails took hold of the handlebar and steered it back to stability, even as more bullets whizzed past. Just like the day before, Sonic leaped from badnik to badnik, taking them out one by one. Each one gave him the momentum to launch to the next, like stepping stones that got him closer and closer to his goal. With a cloud of exploding badniks behind him, Sonic skidded into the main hangar. A new row of badniks was being reloaded into the launchers. He netted his fingers together and stretched, grin turning mischievous. Then he was off again.

It only took him a moment to bounce around the hangar, wantonly destroying anything he could spin-dash into. Once the hangar was in flames with liberated creatures scurrying around everywhere, he charged through a metal door. There was a moment of calm in the corridor behind it. The badniks patrolling and surveying all turned their googly eyes to blue hedgehog that had just burst in, almost like they were confused. Then their expressions turned angry and they set their crosshairs on the target.

Sonic didn't waste any time. He'd seen them all before, knew how to spin and kick through all of the badniks and avoid the sharp bits that Eggman had designed specifically to stab him when he dashed at them. Like all of Eggman's carriers, the Egg Zeppelin was like a maze, lined with traps and full of dead ends meant to corner an intruder. Sonic just laughed a whooped through the whole thing, running across the ceiling to avoid a pit of spikes, avoiding trap-filled elevators by jumping into the air streams of vents, and bypassing lockdowns by rolling through AC ducts. Just like a roller coaster, but with the promise of death for one wrong move.

Up in the control centre, Dr Eggman ground his teeth madly as countless security feeds trying to keep tabs on the blue blur fizzed out as they were destroyed.

"Power levels have dropped 38%," Orbot reported. "21% of the airship has suffered extensive damage."

Eggman beat his fists on his desk. This wasn't going how he envisioned at all. But he wasn't a called a genius for nothing. He grinned maniacally. "Get the cannons back online, resume bombarding the beach! Redirect the deployed badniks for an invasion! Then put me on a ship-wide communication! Let's see how this blue menace feels about leaving those purple whats-its all alone and at my mercy."

"I don't think that's gonna work," Cubot said. "We're kinda losing on that front too."

"WHAT? How? Show me!"

A surveillance feed popped up in front of him, larger than all the others. Despite no sign of Sonic or Tails, badniks flying around over the ocean were still being shot out of the sky. In the distance, a large balloon hovered above the beach, where the firepower originated from.

"Destroy their outpost!"

"There is only enough power to divert to two cannons," Orbot informed him, "and they won't be accurate enough to target the outpost that far away."

"Then load the missiles, you stupid bucket of bolts!"

"Loading missiles. Firing."

A barrage of four missiles zoomed towards the beach. Watching them relaxed Eggman somewhat and he was able to smile again. They were on track to hit their mark. Then all of a sudden, they blew up.

"What was that?" he demanded. "Did they destroy it?"

"That's a negative," Cubot answered.

The smoke and flames blew away, revealing that the tower was still standing.

"How did they do that?" Dr Eggman cried, aghast.

"From what the surveillance can tell," Orbot said, "the outpost tower has deployed a long-range mortar from the balloon and a mid-range artillery cannon from the tower itself. No purple whats-its in sight on the beach."

"I bet that's 'cause they're firing at us from the outpost," Cubot guessed.

Eggman went back to grinding his teeth. "And the hedgehog?"

"He is encroaching upon the onboard mini-factory for badnik production," Orbot said.

Eggman froze. Once again, he found a reason to turn his lips into a sinister smile. "Then ignore the beach. Deactivate all non-essential operations and divert all power to activating the Killer Queen."

"As you wish."

"Hey, I guess that thing turned out to be more useful than you thought," Cubot whispered to Orbot.

"Indeed."

* * *

Sonic popped out of a duct, taking a long drop yet landing in a safe crouch on the metal floor. The room he'd entered was very large and windowless and overwarm from the machinery pumping and hissing. A long rail fed from one side of the room to the other, with metal claws sliding along it. On the left they emerged from the wall with a struggling animal grasping tightly, which they deposited into a clamp that pulled them down into the first of a series of chambers. There was no way to see inside the chambers but they emerged from a funnel at the bottom as a badnik, dropped into a trapdoor with a conveyor belt beneath it.

"No wonder there were so many badniks on this thing," Sonic muttered. He snarled and punched his right fist into his left hand. "Whatever, just one more thing I get to put an end to."

Suddenly the lights went out. The room went red with the emergency lighting. The trapdoor slammed permanently shut, the rail suddenly stopped and the claws evacuated the room. The clamp pulled back into the chamber, to be replaced by a larger, jagged clamp looking like a pair of mandibles. Then the chamber titled forward, revealing a pair of compound eyes that made a demonically bugish face. Six gun barrels unfolded from behind it and the largest chamber at the bottom lifted, pointing the funnel right at Sonic. The fiery light inside only meant one thing.

Sonic jumped to dodge the laser as it did a sweep of the factory floor. Then the guns fired. Defenceless in the air, Sonic took the hit. It slammed him against the wall. It knocked the wind out of him and he slid to the floor. He only just got his wits about him quickly enough to curl up and roll out of the laser's path. He got just close enough to attempt a spin-dash on the lower chamber, only to bounce right off. Too well armoured. He gave one more try, zigzagging across the room to both gain speed and dodge the laser. He leaped a little higher. The middle chamber was spiked so he had to go straight for the top. The mandibles snapped at him. He uncurled just in the nick of time to avoid getting trapped in them. The guns took aim and blasted him out of the air. He hit the floor hard.

A laser doing ground control, guns doing air control, and the mandibles ready to chomp him in two if he got too close to the apparent weak spot. And they were relentless in their assault. Sonic could barely think between dodging the ammunition and he was sure he wasn't going to fare well if he took another direct hit from the guns.

"Sonic! I got in through one of the auxiliary hangars!"

The kit squeezed into the room through the opening that the claws had previously been leaving through. With his tails as a booster, he jumped at the Killer Queen's head, somersaulting for maximum momentum to land a two-footed kick against its head. The robot's eyes flickered. It shuddered. That split-second lapse was enough for Sonic to pick up speed. He jumped into a spring trap designed to send him careening into the Queen's mandibles but since it was temporarily stopped, he got a direct hit right in one of its eyes. It smashed open, chips and wires sparking furiously. The other eye flashed. The guns took aim again and fired. This time, though, Tails grabbed Sonic by the hands, flying him in a wide arc around the room to escape the gunfire.

"Lob me at the other eye!" Sonic yelled over the noise.

"Got it!"

Tails swung him around and flung him as hard as he could. Sonic curled up and cannonballed into the other side. The Killer Queen spluttered again. All of its sensors were destroyed but it wasn't programmed to give up so easily. The laser gun rose. The gun barrels all lined up to each other. Then it fired. Laser first, swinging in loops around the room, hoping to blindly hit anything. When that ran out of power, the guns fired several volleys from one side of the room to the other. Then the laser went again while the guns recharged. Tails tried his best to flit out of the way but the laser clipped his tails. It knocked him out of the air.

"Gotcha!" a blue blue declared as it slid underneath to catch him. Sonic winked. "Just hang tight and try not to get hit again. I reckon I've got this."

Now that the laser was no longer covering the floor, Sonic had a clear run up to the spring traps. He watched the path of the laser, as it finished its course. Then the guns loaded up, starting their volley at the opposite end of the room. Just the right spot for Sonic to slip past them when he jumped into the spring trap. Without sensors, the mandibles couldn't be primed to snap when he approached. The force of his spin-dash knocked the head clean off.

The wires left behind threw electricity out like lightning. Tails cowered at the sight. Then the alarm began.

"WARNING. POWER SURGE DETECTED. EVACUATE! EVACUATE! WARNING. POWER SURGE DETECTED. EVACUATE! EVACUATE!"

"I think it's gonna explode," Tails said.

"No worries," Sonic smirked, jerking his thumb at the main door to the factory. It was shut tight but a spin-dash to the control panel beside it shocked it into opening at least partially. He dashed back to grab Tails and then sped out of there.

They only got a three second head start before things started going boom. Fire and debris chased them from the factory room, setting off all the other electronics and engines in their wake. Sonic made a beeline back to the main hangar and took a great leap out of the open doors. A final epic explosion made a shockwave that shoved them further out into the sky, right over the sea. Sonic's heart thudded for a second but then he felt Tails grab his other hand. It no longer felt like they were falling. Sonic glanced at his little brother gratefully. Tails' excited grin looked like it was going to split his face. Sonic glanced back at the Egg Zeppelin falling out of the sky and into the sea, then ahead of them at the beach. While they were fighting the Zeppelin had gotten closer to the coast. Tails could manage to fly them back to dry land. From the top of the ancient outpost, Perci and Staci jumped and waved.

"You did it," Tails said, sighing in relief.

"We did it," Sonic corrected him.

Down on the beach, Sonic touched down safely with Tails right after him. The balloon from the outpost reeled back slowly as Perci and Staci ran across the sand to meet them. They barrelled into Sonic and Tails, one on each of them, holding them in a choking-tight hug.

"You guys were amazing!" they exclaimed in unison.

Sonic rubbed his upper lip. "It was nothing."

"It was not nothing," Perci objected, pulling back.

"You saved our island," Staci added.

"You guys helped," Tails reminded them.

"I mean, yeah, we did our best," Staci said, twirling her hair bashfully.

"But we couldn't have taken that whole ship down," Perci said.

"Speaking of which, we should probably make sure all the animals can get out," Sonic said, pointing to the smoking wreck sitting in the bay.

Above that wreck, Dr Eggman's control board had converted into a small escape pod. He growled, squeezing his hands into fists. "That blasted hedgehog! I should shoot him down right now!"

He pressed a series of button commands and a small laser unfolded from the bottom of his hovering craft.

"Hold on," Orbot warned, "if you use your light weaponry here, the craft might not have enough power to carry us to one of your bases."

"Shut up!" Eggman snapped, smacking Orbot in the head. But he had to concede that the robot was correct. So instead, he gave his Egg Zeppelin one last furiously mournful look and turned the craft around to retreat.

* * *

The sun was high in the sky and a parade of animals from the Egg Zeppelin's wreck swam to shore or scurried along the makeshift floating pier Tails and the twins threw together for them. They all scrambled to hide in the jungle, to safety.

"It seems like we got all of them," Perci said, shading her eyes to look down the pier. There weren't any more animals emerging.

A blue flash streaked over the water. Sonic skidded to a halt and dropped the armful of animals he was carrying. The others that were simply holding on jumped off and fled. "I think that's it."

The four of them watched the animals disappear into the jungle. Then there was a strange roar. Perci and Staci looked at Sonic and Tails. The boys blushed. The twins burst out laughing.

"I almost forgot we missed breakfast," Tails murmured pressing his index fingers together.

"You must be starving," Perci said.

"We'll give you a lift to our village," Staci offered. "And lunch is on us."

"It's the least we can do after what you did for us."

The boys followed the twins over to a rough path by the tree line where a small buggy was parked. They left the Egg Zeppelin behind them. That could wait until later to clean up. For now, they were eager to bask in the peaceful aftermath and enjoy a well-deserved lunch.

* * *

**A/N:** And that's what I did today. Drop me a review if you like, but as I said, I can't exactly promise more. Peace out, friends.


End file.
